CEATEC 2026 Recap: 112,373 Registered Visitors, 821 Exhibitors and the 2026 Award Winners

October 13-16, 2026 | Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan | Organizer final figures: 112,373 registered visitors, 821 exhibiting companies and organizations, 229 conferences and sessions | 27th edition | Organizer: JEITA | Next: CEATEC 2027, October 19-22, 2027

This CEATEC 2026 recap covers the final figures and the awards. CEATEC 2026 closed at Makuhari Messe on October 16 with 112,373 registered visitors over four days, according to the organizer's closing press release (October 16, Japanese; the English version gives the same total). The release counts 821 companies and organizations exhibiting and 229 conferences and sessions. The organizer is JEITA, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.

These are final figures, and they are registered-visitor counts: admission is free, but every visitor must register. In 2025 the organizer's results page showed that the total included exhibitor staff and press, not only visitors. CEATEC has not yet published that split for 2026.

In this recap

• What CEATEC promised, and what we can confirm
• The program: four areas beside Japan Mobility Show Bizweek
• The CEATEC AWARD 2026
• What it means for exhibitors
• By the numbers
• When is the next CEATEC?
• FAQs

What CEATEC Promised, and What We Can Confirm

The organizer published its scale figures on October 6, a week before opening. Where a final figure exists, it is used below.

Visitors. The organizer's opening release expected more than 110,000 visitors and said final figures would follow. The final count is 112,373.

How that compares. The closing release gives two reference points: 112,014 registered visitors in 2024, which it calls the previous co-located edition, and 98,884 in 2025, when CEATEC ran on its own. The 2025 figure is confirmed by the organizer's 2025 closing release. The 2026 show was co-located with Japan Mobility Show Bizweek, as 2024 was, so 2024 is the like-for-like comparison: 112,373 against 112,014 is 359 more registered visitors, about 0.3%. Against 2025 the 2026 total is higher by 13,489, but 2025 had no co-located show, so that gap is not like for like.

Exhibitors. The final count is 821, the same as the pre-show figure. The organizer's 2025 release gives 810 exhibitors in 2025 and 808 in 2024, so the exhibitor count has been close to flat for three editions.

Startups and research institutions. The Japanese closing release gives 246 startup and university or research institution exhibitors, the most since the organizer began recording the category in 2014. The 2025 release gave 232 in 2025 and 188 in 2024. This is a final figure.

Conference. The final count is 229 conferences and sessions, against 222 in 2025. The organizer says online sessions stay available on the official site until October 30.

Pre-show figures not restated at close. Two breakdowns come only from the October 6 opening release: 338 first-time exhibitors (41%) and 194 overseas exhibitors from 31 countries and regions. Those are pre-show figures. The same release gave 156 overseas exhibitors from 29 countries and regions for 2025, and the 2025 release gave 158 from 25 for 2024.

Theme. The 2026 theme is Transformation - Where Companies, Industries, and Society Evolve, per the organizer's event outline and its Japanese closing release. The English closing release still carries the earlier wording, saying the show was held under the theme Innovation for all, which was the 2025 theme.

The Program: Four Areas Beside Japan Mobility Show Bizweek

The show spread over four exhibit areas: General Exhibits, X (Transformation) Park, Next Generation Park and Global Park, per the opening release. It ran alongside Japan Mobility Show Bizweek 2026, organized by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), for the second time after 2024, according to the closing release. That release also describes a special session with the chairpersons of both organizers and networking programs for exhibitors.

The same release says that in what it calls the first year of physical AI, many physical AI technologies, products and devices were shown. The awards below bear this out. For the floor plan and pavilions, see our CEATEC 2026 guide.

The CEATEC AWARD 2026

JEITA's award release says entries are submitted in advance by exhibitors and judged by a committee drawn from academic societies and specialist media, on technical merit, market potential and future prospects. Winners:

Ministerial awards

• Internal Affairs and Communications: Mitsubishi Electric Group, for TUSS, a single AI model that separates target sounds from mixed audio
• Economy, Trade and Industry: TDK, for a meta-optic mirror for smart glasses displays
• Digital Affairs: Hitachi, for HMAX, AI solutions for social infrastructure

Excellence Award: Sharp (Triple Free Laundry, a drainless recirculating washing system); Murata Manufacturing with Melt Interface Technologies (hand tracking for AI and robotics); Taiyo Yuden (odor-sensor cancer pre-screening, which the release says is meant to prompt people to seek medical care, not replace diagnosis)

Category awards

• Innovation: AIxtal (process optimization platform) and Direava (Surgical VLM)
• Global Innovation: NoorNation (LifeBox, battery-free solar power and water)
• Transformation: Amazon Web Services Japan (AI agents that train robots)
• Next Generation: TopoLogic (TL-SENSING heat flux sensor) and Zeteoh (TRAILS spatial AI for positioning without GPS)
• Mobility Innovation: Everblue Technologies, for a compact electric snow-removal vehicle, an unmanned ground vehicle rather than an aerial drone, although the release names it a snow removal drone. The release lists Everblue as a Japan Mobility Show bizweek 2026 exhibitor and notes the CEATEC AWARD otherwise covers CEATEC exhibits, with this award the exception

Physical AI shows up in the winning entries themselves: Mitsubishi Electric's sound separation for robots, the Murata and Melt hand-tracking glove for robot training data, AWS's robot-training agents and Zeteoh's positioning, which the release frames as a foundation for physical AI. That link is the organizer's own framing in the award release, not ours.

What It Means for Exhibitors

Cite the total with its definition. If you report CEATEC's audience to a budget holder, cite 112,373 registered visitors (organizer, October 16) and say it is a registration count. In 2025, the organizer's results page split its 98,884 total into 81,860 visitors, 635 press and 16,389 exhibitor staff, and counted 1,230 overseas visitors among the visitors. The 2026 split is not published yet, so ask the organizer for it before you model lead volume.

Compare 2026 with 2024, not 2025. The 2026 total is about 0.3% above 2024, the previous co-located edition, and 13,489 above 2025, when CEATEC ran alone, per the closing release. If you are judging whether the Japan Mobility Show Bizweek pairing matters for your audience, 2024 is the closer comparison.

The exhibitor count is flat; the mix moved. 821 exhibitors is close to 810 and 808. The startup and research group reached a record 246 (final). The overseas count of 194 against 156 is a pre-show comparison. If you sell to early-stage buyers or want an international pavilion as a route in, ask for the final overseas count.

What we cannot tell you. The organizer has published no stand prices in these releases, no share of visitors who were buyers or decision makers, and no lead counts. Those are the three numbers to request from the CEATEC Operations Office before a 2027 decision. Our ROI calculator can turn them into a break-even once you have them.

Award entry. Per JEITA's award release, exhibitors submit CEATEC AWARD entries in advance.

By the Numbers

• 112,373 registered visitors: CEATEC 2026, organizer closing release
• 112,014 registered visitors in 2024, the previous co-located edition, and 98,884 in 2025: closing release; 2025 also in the 2025 closing release
• 821 exhibiting companies and organizations: closing release (810 in 2025 and 808 in 2024, per the 2025 release)
• 246 startup and university or research institution exhibitors, a record: closing release (232 in 2025 and 188 in 2024, per the 2025 release)
• 229 conferences and sessions: closing release (222 in 2025, per the 2025 release)
• 27th edition, October 13-16, 2026: closing release
• 110,000+ visitors expected: pre-show opening release
• 338 first-time exhibitors (41%) and 194 overseas exhibitors from 31 countries and regions: pre-show figures, opening release, October 6

When Is the Next CEATEC?

CEATEC 2027 is scheduled for October 19-22, 2027, according to the organizer's closing release. The call for exhibitors is scheduled to begin in February 2027, per the English closing release. The releases do not name the 2027 venue. CEATEC was held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in 2025 and 2026, so check the official site for 2027. For the 2026 event page, see our CEATEC 2026 show listing.

FAQs

When was CEATEC 2026? CEATEC 2026 ran October 13-16, 2026, at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. It was the 27th edition, organized by JEITA, per the organizer's closing release.

How many people attended CEATEC 2026? The organizer reported 112,373 registered visitors over the four days in its closing release. That is a registration count; admission was free but registration was required.

How many exhibitors were at CEATEC 2026? The organizer reported 821 companies and organizations exhibiting, against 810 in 2025.

Who won the CEATEC AWARD 2026? Mitsubishi Electric Group won the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award, TDK the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award and Hitachi the Minister of Digital Affairs Award. The Excellence Awards went to Sharp, Murata Manufacturing with Melt Interface Technologies, and Taiyo Yuden. See JEITA's award release for the category winners.

What was the theme of CEATEC 2026? The theme was Transformation - Where Companies, Industries, and Society Evolve, per the organizer's event outline. The English closing release still carries the 2025 wording, Innovation for all.

Was CEATEC 2026 bigger than before? Against 2024, the last co-located edition, slightly: 112,373 registered visitors against 112,014, per the organizer's closing release. It is higher than 2025's 98,884, but 2025 was not co-located with Japan Mobility Show Bizweek, so 2024 is the like-for-like comparison.

When is CEATEC 2027? The organizer has scheduled CEATEC 2027 for October 19-22, 2027, with the call for exhibitors beginning in February 2027, per its English closing release.